LIE- The school board bans books!TRUTH- Over at least the last decade the Fremont County School District #1 Board of Trustees HAS NOT BANNED A SINGLE BOOK. Yup you read that right- NONE!

LIE- The school board wants to ban the classics! TRUTH- There has been no consideration – not a SINGLE discussion – of banning any book at the school district. There was discussion about whether one book, which featured pornographic images, encouraged sending nude photos to peers, and provided graphic instructions about how to perform perverse sex acts, was appropriate at ANY age level at FCSD#1. Books such as To Kill a Mockingbird, 1984 and of Mice and Men are encouraged reading by the district and the Board of Trustees has always supported their inclusion in the curriculum.

LIE- The board changed the policy so it could ban books! TRUTH- The school board has always had final say about removing a book from the school system. That has not changed. The board recently revised policy IJLA, “Stakeholder concerns about curriculum, materials, programs, or events” to streamline it, making the entire process more transparent and clearcut. Parents, stakeholders and you, the VOTER, should have a say when the district makes a poor decision about whether one of our thousands of books meets the high quality expected of our district.

LIE – The school board has taken away our Constitutional Rights through book banning! TRUTH- The school board has enhanced and REINFORCED the rights of parents to make decisions about what their kids can access by ensuring that all of our library books are available online for review by parents, AND ensuring that parents have the capability to ensure their child is not allowed to check out books that you, as a parent, don’t feel are appropriate for your kids. Our staff carefully selects age-appropriate material for students, but if you want to override the district’s perspective, we give YOU the power and control to do so.

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Before getting to the event that lead to the mass (really actually minor) hysteria of book banning I want to preface that I am extremely proud of Lander schools and our libraries. At the end of the 2023 awards assembly it was shared that 6,218 books were read at Baldwin Creek Elementary during the 2022-2023 school year. This breaks down to over 171 million words and an average reading of 34 minutes a day. What an accomplishment!!

When the book Let’s Talk About It, and talk about it we have, was brought to my attention in the winter of 2023 by a staff member, I made a mental note to look into it but it wasn’t a priority.  Fast forward a few months later in the spring of 2023 the book was brought to my attention again… this time by a student.  I searched the online library catalog for LVHS and found it was listed as a ‘sex education’ book.  It was listed as being check out and so I waited…. Weeks went by and it was still marked as check out so I decided to purchase the book on Amazon.  When it arrived, I nearly had a mishap when my then 5 year old almost opened it.  The graphic novel makes it alluring to children of all ages.  But upon opening the book the images are anything but alluring!!! Images of butt plugs, men and women fully naked not just in provocative poses but actually engaged in lewd sexual acts, masturbation… you get the point.  I had to put the book down and digest.

Below you will find some excerpts from the book so be mindful of those that can see it.

My first concern with this book is that it promotes and encourages pornography use.  

“A great place to research fantasies and kinks safely is on the internet! There are tons of people and communities out there who share your interests and have all kinds of advice. The online world is also chockablock full of pornography: professional and amateurs alike sharing their sexy adventures online. When consumed right, porn can help you discover new aspects of your sexuality, and help you safely explore kinks and fantasies.”  

“Buuuuut, depending on your age and where you found it, porn can also be unethical or illegal to watch. So do your research! Look up interviews with your fave porn performers, go to the sites they recommend, and pay for your porn.” 

Several studies and research suggest that pornography use in teenagers can cause addictive behavior, mental health issues, and rewires the brain, even wearing out the reward circuit of the brain by producing influxes of dopamine. 

Additionally, pornography viewing can affect mirror neurons that are associated with understanding social cues and empathy for others.  It leads to objectification of individuals and can have long-term social/emotional effects.  I do not believe our district should house books in our library that encourage pornography consumption when statistics and studies warn us of its dangers.  

“Turns out the majority of STIs (sexually transmitted infections) are treatable and, if caught early, no biggie. There are some that are untreatable like HPV and herpes (both of which the majority of people have, even if they are symptomless).  But even those aren’t worth fretting over beyond keeping some good practices…  STIs aren’t as big of a deal as a lot of people make them out to be”  

As a book described in our catalog as “sex ed” it does not provide any statistics on Sexually Transmitted Infections (Diseases) rather in my opinion the above comments downplay the possible health implications.  The book isn’t written by a health expert which is concerning given its category. In fact, the book is written by a cartoonist husband and wife duo with no credentials to write on this topic other than a morbid interest.

“Try a sex toy for bonus fun. Vibes and strokers are awesome! And don’t forget- everybody’s got a butt!… Dive deeper with your finger or a butt plug! Just make sure any objects you put up there have a flared base; otherwise , you hungry heinie can gobble it up and the only way to get it back out is a trip to the hospital.”  

At a May 2023 school board meeting a former public health nurse spoke during public comment that “Fremont County is unhealthy” and that there is a rampant outbreak of syphilis in our county.  And although she was in favor of keeping this book, I would argue information presented in this book contradicts her concern and what anyone should teach students about STDs.  

Lastly, the images provided in this book are obscene.  Obscene/pornographic material is not a protected First Amendment right and should not be distributed to minors.  Wyoming Title 6 Chapter 4 Section 301 and the US courts define “Obscene” as material that the average person would find: 

· Whether the average person, applying contemporary adult community standards, finds the matter, taken as a whole, appeals to prurient interests (i.e. erotic, lascivious, abnormal, unhealthy, degrading, shameful, or morbid interests in nudity, sex or excretion.);

·  Whether the average person, applying contemporary adult community standards, finds that the matter depicts or describes sexual conduct in a patently offensive way (i.e. ultimate sexual acts, normal or perverted, actual or simulated, masturbation, excretory functions, lewd exhibition of the genitals, or sadomasochistic sexual abuse); and

·  Whether a reasonable person finds that the matter, taken as a whole lack serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.  

But what is my opinion anyway?! And given a lot of unreasonable opinions how can I be sure mine is reasonable? Simple. I sought after the opinions of others- those I represent- the public.

I created a survey and couldn’t even get the images to post as they were removed from Google Forms and the school district’s filter-that should be your first clue! The survey yielded a large number of responses, more than some of our district wide surveys.  To my surprise (or not surprise) there was a small but loud group that condoned my behavior to seek input from the public.  Even suggesting I engaged in an “ethics violation”. They claimed my survey was bias, my survey was not out long enough, my survey was only sent to select individuals (yet they got wind of it and completed it)… you name it I was at fault for it. 

What did my survey yield?!? Believe it or not (I believe it of course) of the 237 responses the MAJORITY, 95.6% believed that the information in this book was pornographic and 4% needed further information to make their decision.  91% were in favor of a policy that allowed materials to be removed following a process, if these materials were deemed inappropriate, with others indicating that were unsure.  Further, 93% of the respondents believed that the role of a school library was to provide supplementary information and resources for students to further their learning of content standards or subjects.  And to enlighten those that claim this is book banning that is not the belief of these community members.  83% of the individuals surveyed believed prohibiting certain books in the school library is not the same as book banning.  

More on the survey results can be found here

I am not suggesting that this book was placed on our shelves with some ill intent, but when a book like this is exposed, we have a responsibility to our students and a responsibility to our parents to have this content removed. Further, I believe as a district we need to be very choosy and intentional when adding materials into our libraries and schools.  Although there are millions of books not in our schools when one is removed the idea is thrown around that this is “book banning”. I would much rather prevent these books from making their way in to our schools to begin with. 

Based off research that I have done we are the only school (Read more here) in 48 school districts in Wyoming to have this book in our library. Let me repeat the only school. 7 county libraries have this book in their public library but we are the only school. 

If you think the content of this book was educational and find value you in it,  wonderful– purchase this book for your teen. Although I will say there were some positives in this book the overall message that STDs aren’t a “big deal” and to “pay for your pornography” and “learn from your favorite pornstar” aren’t the messages I will be supporting in Lander schools. 

 I’m tired of the argument “well kids see and hear this outside of the school all the time, who cares!” Shouldn’t we as adults hold ourselves and our education system to a higher standard? Should we let anyone that publishes a book, despite their lack of credentials, dictate the information that is presented to our children?

So, you may be asking, well what happened to this book?  I followed the board policy of IJLA (a policy that was created in 2007, revised in 2014 and then again in 2023 during my time on the board) and submitted this book to the librarian, as the policy states. The book never made its way to the school board for review because the new librarian at LVHS agreed with my request and removed the book from the shelves, a victory indeed!!

This brings me to my last point. Two different librarians had two different views of the content of this book. We must create systems and procedures in place so that these types of books don’t enter our schools in the first place otherwise the selection may vary depending on the individual.

Respectfully,

Taylor Jacobs, M.S, BCBA